Belief
by ThePeculiarAvenger
Summary: Natasha Romanoff does not believe she deserves to be loved. Maria Hill does not believe in falling in love. Clint Barton does not believe in SHIELD protocols, but he does believe in following his heart. Tony Stark does not believe he needs anyone, and he almost lets his soulmate slide through his fingers. Soulmate AU, starring... everyone.
1. Natasha

"It's kinda familiar, actually." Natasha Romanoff hates seeing herself in the mirror, mainly because of those words. They gave her comfort when she was young and naive, they were a dangerous liability when she was their perfect weapon, and they fell out of the mouth of one Steve Rogers on top of a helicarrier, when she was least expecting them. She was not SHIELD's top spy for nothing, though, and her emotions never even flickered onto her face, even as she watched him for any sign of reaction. She had pretty much given up by the time they reached the battle of New York, let alone close to five years later.

"Did you have something against running away?" Steve very nearly passed out in the back of the taxi when the letters on his forearm were spoken aloud by Peggy Carter, of all people. He wasn't quite sure how he'd managed to carry on an intelligent conversation, but he'd very nearly had a heart attack when, soon after stepping through the faux - storefront, Peggy had pulled him into a dark, unoccupied room and began unbuttoning her shirt. Of course, it had only been to show him his own words ("I know this road") stretching across her stomach, near her waistband, but still. She'd given him a quick kiss, just a small moment of _yes, they'd found each other,_ and then they'd made their way into the lab, and his life had changed forever.

Those words hadn't disappeared, sixty - odd years later, when he'd woken up, and for a long time, it hurt just to look at them. Later, on bad days, he'd sit on the edge of his bed and lose himself in thought, running his fingers up and down his arm. It was years between waking up and getting his second sentence, but he still remembers when he saw the words first.

It was after a shower, a good day, all things considered. He'd put on a nice polo and some khakis, and was heading to his laptop to check for an update on Bucky when he noticed the small, neat print. "Oh, _you_ found _me_ , did you?" He spends the next week a nervous wreck, but after no encounters, he reminds himself that he spent the first twenty - something years of his life waiting, why should this be any different? It takes a day or two, but his life goes back to normal. As normal as you can be when your an on the run superhero in hiding, anyway.

He went for a run, around a week later. Of course, he ran every day, but this time, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. by his third five - mile lap, he realized that he'd seen the same black ball cap and red ponytail every time, which was supremely odd, as no one should be able to keep up with him for one lap, let alone three. By the end of his run, he had the answer. He sat down on the bench next to the redhead in the Hawkeye cap, and cocked his head to peer under the brim at her face. "Found you."

Natasha's familiar voice spoke the exact words he'd spent an entire week obsessing over. "Oh, _you_ found _me_ , did you?"

Yay, new story! Yay, cliffhangers! Yay, Romanogers! Please review! I love all of you!


	2. Steve

Back for more, are you? Well, I'm glad. Thanks to M. P. Whispers for reviewing! I hope this doesn't have typos, and I hope the spacing works this time.

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Natasha's POV

I watched as Steve's jaw dropped, and his face went slack. He sat upright, still staring at me. "Uh.." he closed his mouth again. "Um. Holy... Natasha." His gaze flickered to his forearm, where I noticed my own familiar scrawl.

"Steve?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Natasha." His gave drops again, and then he looks back up at me, a combination of hopeful and scared. "Um... do you..."

 _Yes. I do. I've had your words on my neck my whole life, and I've spent the past five years trying to forget them._ I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to kiss him. In the back of my mind, some small part of me was urging me to run. Impulsively, I took his hand. Without breaking eye contact, I kissed him, softly, barely touching his lips. He responded by running his free hand through my hair and deepening the kiss. It seemed like time froze in that moment of pure bliss. In reality, the kiss continued for nearly a minute before we ran out of air. when we broke apart, I realized that his hands were wrapped around me and in my hair, while I'd subconsciously pressed mine up against his chest. "Natasha." He said my name softly as he stared deep into my eyes, never letting go of me as he spoke. I gave him a small smile.

"You've gotten better," I teased him. "Been kissing anyone lately?"

"Oh, I know how to kiss," he assured me. "You just can't expect my best work if I have absolutely no warning."

"I said kiss me, what did you think I meant?" I was smiling now. He was still holding me, and I was sure people were staring at us, but I didn't care. I had _Steve_.

"Allow me to apologize for being a bit slow on the uptake. Was this what you meant?" With that, he kissed me again, soft and sweet, so gently, yet with so much power that if it weren't for my training in self control, I would have lost all dignity and swooned in his arms. As it was, he simply made me feel weak at the knees. It was a good thing I was sitting down.

"Doesn't the honorable, virtuous Captain America at least want to take a girl out somewhere before he starts making out with her?" My voice only shook a little bit as I grinned.

"Ah, I can do better than that. You, me, lunch at the Rooftop, 12:30. I'll see you at twelve." I smirked, almost laughing at the patriotic golden retriever who was eagerly awaiting my response.

"I'll be ready." With one last kiss, I left for my apartment, and he left for his.

"Steve," I called after him, "Do you know where I live?"


	3. Pepper

Hey guys! I did say that there would be multiple pairings in this fic, so, in the same universe, have some Pepperony. This chapter should help me set up the next few. I believe it takes place ~after~ last chapter. If you were hoping for a Romanogers date, I'm sorry to disappoint, but rest assured that one will occur. By the way, this is post - Homecoming. So, you ready? Good.

Tony woke to silky sheets, soft morning light, and Pepper rubbing gentle circles on his right shoulder blade. It was a pleasant feeling. "Tony?" Pepper's voice is alert and curious, and Tony is neither. He hasn't even seen a clock yet. He gives a small, happy moan to let her know he is awake. "What was the first thing I said to you?" And then everything clicks and, despite the fact that he still doesn't know what time it is, he is suddenly equally awake. She's rubbing _that shoulder._ He flips around, placing his hands on her hips, and searches for the writing he knows he's seen before somewhere on her waistline. There it is, in a place that would normally be covered by her pajama pants, however, he'd actually gotten out of the lab at a decent time last night, so, y'know. The pajama pants are somewhere on the floor. In a messy yet readable handwriting that he vaguely recognizes as his own are the words "Uh, yeah what's your name?" He looks at her, trying to recall what she said to him the first time they met. It's certainly plausible that they might've been "Excuse me, Mr. Stark?"

"Pep... are we..."

She remembers the day much better than him, because it changed her life forever, whereas for him, it was a chance meeting, and it's quite possible that, back then, he might have been drunk. "I.. I think.. I think we are." He takes her chin is his hand and tilts it up so that she's looking him in the eye.

"I don't deserve you. I don't deserve your love, even for a little bit, and I sure as hell don't deserve you as a soulmate. I don't give a damn about the words on either of us. If I can't stay true to my promise to be good to you, to give you everything you've wanted, to make myself worth your time, then I don't care if we're soulmates, you get yourself out of here, mkay?" He's definitely awake, and the only time she's seen this look of grave vulnerability before was the time he put a ring on her finger, and made the aforementioned promise. Instead of answering, she wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him thoroughly. They're not going to be getting out of bed for a while.

When they finally do get out of bed, it's business as usual. Pepper has found that the only way to keep Tony on track is to establish firm boundaries: if you are not in the lab, you may not eat and tinker at the same time; if you leave the tower you must look presentable; once we are dressed, we are in work mode. "So, what's new today?" Pepper muses, half to herself as she scrolls through her email.

"I'm pretty sure Rogers and Romanoff have something going on," Tony replies, looking up at her, sitting on the breakfast bar in an impeccable suit, from his vantage point at the table, still in a tshirt and sweats.

"I'm pretty sure you have a meeting with the French Technology Division at noon," Pepper shoots back.

"Yes, and you'll do wonderfully. We've been over this Pep, they can't have my tech." Tony sounds bored now, and pepper can tell that his attention span is coming to a close.

"Well, I'm giving them your tech. The Tech Division has been a huge investor in Stark Industries since before you made me CEO. They want security equipment, and if we can't give it to them, then they'll go to Hammer, maybe even drop their investments entirely. We can't take that chance."

Tony's mood has changed rapidly, which in itself is unsurprising, but the intense, determined dark look on his face is beginning to scare her. "No, Pepper. I decided a long time ago to stop sharing my tech. The only person I can trust not to misuse it is me."

Pepper sighed sympathetically. "I know, Tony, but all they want is security equipment. You can give them cameras, force fields - you know, the kind that don't zap any intruders into oblivion? I didn't promise them anything dangerous."

Tony frowns, looking displeased, but relents. "Alright. Anything else I should know before I go make sure France can't kidnap any mad scientist billionaires with their security equipment?" His voice has a hard edge to it that wasn't there a minute ago.

"We're throwing a dinner party to apologize to the Avengers and welcome them into the new compound. You will be apologizing." She fixes him with a hard stare.

Tony sighs, nods, and gets up to leave, but as he reaches the door, he can't help but think back to earlier that morning. "Pepper..." He trails off and pulls her in for a gentle kiss. "I'm sorry for being difficult. You're much better at this sort of thing than I am. You're good at this job." He kisses her again. "You're amazing."

Pepper responds by pulling him into a deep, slow kiss that lasts longer than the previous ones. "Tony, I know how important it is to you that you keep people safe, and that you don't repeat your previous mistakes. I can help you, Tony. We can do it together, mkay?" He's still holding her close, and he never wants to let go. He kisses her again, on the cheek.

"I know, Pep. I love you." He gazes at her silently or a few seconds. "Thank you. Now, if we've got a dinner party later, then I need to hurry up with my lab stuff. I'm sure you can handle the French, I'll shoot you an email with specifics on the equipment we'll send them."

She really would've preferred that he be at the meeting, but him actively offering to help is better than him sitting there bored and nonparticipating. Plus, he seems to be making an effort to follow her instructions more. "Alright, Tony. Sounds good. Go make France a gift basket, I love you too." With one last peck, Pepper heads to her office and Tony to his lab.

Hours later, Pepper has successfully dealt with The French, and Tony has modified the security equipment, assigned floors to Avengers, and even taken a shower. Now they were seated at the kitchen table, writing invitations for the upcoming dinner. Each had to be handwritten as it contained instructions specific to the recipient - please bring a maximum of three visible weapons (Natasha), plus one can include more than one within reason (Clint, who had already had to leave his family on behalf of Tony more than he should), transportation can be arranged if it is an issue but the airstrip will not be open (Sam), and more. Tony had announced, with an amount of sincerity that almost seemed comical, though he was extremely serious, that he would apologize from the depths of his heart to each member of the the team as they arrived. That earned him a kiss and the control over which restaurant they got takeout from. They ate dinner and then curled up on the couch, content to cuddle and talk for hours into the night. They stayed in the same formation, Tony stretched along the couch, holding Pepper who had curled herself into his chest, until they woke up again the next morning.

Wooooow. I wrote a thing. This chapter is actually a decent length! Be prepared for much fluff and a tiny bit of angst with the dinner party, which, if all goes well, will lead into the next pair of soulmates. Thanks for reading, please review!


	4. Tony

Who's ready for a nice, polite, civilized dinner party involving absolutely zero weapons, alcohol, or crazy party games? Nobody? Good! Because if you came here for that, you will be veeeeeerrrryyy disappointed. So without further ado, here comes none of the stuff listed above. **Warning: Homecoming spoilers! The section will be marked for those who do not wish to read. Nothing too major is spoiled however.**

Tony stood up as the doorbell rang, making sure his tie was straight and attempting a sincere smile. He was on his best behavior, because Pepper was right. _Pepper is always right,_ said the voice inside his head. It wasn't wrong. He needed to rebuild the bridges he'd burned, because these were quite possibly the only people in the world who would ever tolerate him. He opened the door to Sam Wilson, who looked better than Tony had ever seen him. It was either the fact that he was not locked in a high security prison, or the gorgeous woman standing at his shoulder. Her heels actually made her taller than him. After blinking a few times, he recognized her, but that _still_ didn't make sense, because what would Maria Hill be doing with Sam Wilson? Forcing his brain back onto the correct train of thought, Tony grinned at Sam.

"Wilson. Good to see you again. You're looking well." He nodded to Maria. "Agent Hill."

Maria seemed amused by this, though Tony was at a loss as to why. "Stark, I'm at your house, and neither of us are actually here for work. Call me Maria."

Tony swallowed back the rather inappropriate joke that immediately popped into his head. "Uh, look, Sam, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry I got you arrested, and then locked in a high security prison the first and second times we met. That was kind of a dick move, and, uh, I think everything kinda got a little out of control. So, bearing that in mind, we, well, we still haven't officially met yet. Tony Stark." He holds out his hand to shake.

Sam is actually smiling. "Thanks, man. I mean, it wasn't that great of you, but we were all kinda confused. if I wanted to stay out of this, I could've shut the door in Captain America's face when he showed up with a hot redhead two years ago. I appreciate the apology though. Where's the food?"

Maria rolls her eyes and punches him playfully on the shoulder. "Steve is bringing Sharon Carter with him, you need to apologize to her for costing her her job, and offer your condolences, you haven't seen her since her aunt died." She informs Tony. He gives her a nod of thanks.

Next to arrive is a large armored vehicle that provides Tony with a sense of foreboding, not so much because he couldn't tell who was inside it, but more because he knew exactly who it held. Surely enough, a semi - large group exits the vehicle, looking like a cross between a World War Two movie and a group of models strutting down a catwalk. Natasha is in the lead, wearing a blue sleeveless dress that looks too cold for the season and huge, dark sunglasses. She's followed by Steve, in a button down and khakis, because he's Steve. Next to him is Bucky, whom Tony doesn't remember inviting but knows he'll have to talk with anyway. And next to Bucky, standing a bit farther off, is a blonde he assumes to be Sharon Carter. She's wearing a white button down tank with a blue skirt and red sunglasses. Staring wide - eyed, Tony notices their overall color theme. Red white, and blue. He snorts.

As the group nears, he opens his mouth to greet them, realizes any words he could say would fall short, and holds up a hand instead, waving. "Uh. Hey, guys. Why don't you come inside. I've, uh, got a lot of stuff to say, aaaaand, we might wanna sit down first." He looks around, hoping he doesn't look as nervous as he feels. Realizing he's blocking the doorway, Tony steps to the side and waves them through.

Pepper looks up from the table, where she's talking to Maria about their mutual dislike of Secretary Ross. She watches as a group of four enters, three she knows and one she doesn't. They assemble themselves on the couch in an almost practiced fashion as Tony follows them in. The blonde she doesn't recognize perches on the arm of the couch, then leans back in what would be a balancing act for anyone else, but seems well - practiced and comfortable to her. This position makes it so Barnes is pinned to the couch by her shoulder, but as his metal arm is still free, and he has it around Natasha's shoulder. Natasha looks at him with a raised eyebrow, and he smirks, but doesn't remove his arm. She shifts slightly as Steve sits down, leaning into him in a way that looks like they might possibly have gotten a little more friendly with each other since the last time the group had seen them. She sighs and sets down her drink. Behind her, Maria notices, and straightens. "This is the make or break moment, huh?" She asks.

"Well, yeah, you could call it that." Pepper rests on her hands, leaning back against the table. "Do you know the blonde?" Maria turns to look, and her brow furrows worriedly.

"Uh, yeah. Sharon Carter. I don't know what the hell she thinks she's playing at.." Maria trails off, watching the conversation.

Steve is leaning so he can have his arm sort of over Bucky's, which puts Natasha practically in his lap. Not interested in making things easier for him, she is leaning so her head is in her hand, her elbow propped on her knee. So yes, it's rather uncomfortable, but so is the conversation.

 **~~ Minor Homecoming Spoilers. Not a huge deal, but if you're really averse to spoilers, maybe just read the bold at the end of this chapter. ~~**

"Romanoff, what you said, how many years ago? God, four this May, right? About the world needing to be saved, that's still true. It always will be. And I, I can't do it alone. And sure, maybe I'm not the only one left, maybe new people show up, but us, we're the originals. We are the Avengers. So yeah, maybe we have disagreements, and maybe we make them larger than they should be, but maybe, just maybe, we can get our shit together, and we can fix our mistakes, and get back to saving the world and bitching about who ate the last of the ice cream. It'll be a slow process, but why don't we start tonight?" He's addressing the entire room now, which has been increased by Wanda, Vision, approximately five Bartons, Rhodey, and a woman with a teenager that nobody really recognizes. "We have food, and each one of you has a fancy apartment in my big new house. So are we pretending to be normal and functioning again, or are we giving up?" He has somehow made his way onto a table. Natasha looks up at him, eyes narrowed, eyebrow raised.

"I'm not really a quitter." She gets up, and before she's taken three steps from the couch, Clint meets her with a high - five. As Lila, Cooper, and Nathan swarm her, Clint meets Tony's eyes with a solemn nod.

"I'm in." He looks at Laura. "You OK with this?" She nods, and takes his hand.

"Yeah. I'll worry less about you here than I do when you just run off on vigilante missions. Now you have people to watch your back." She smiles at him, and he buries his face in her neck, peppering her collarbone with kisses.

"I'm not gonna live here permanently. Only when there's a problem or a mission," he promises. Laura smiles.

"Alright everybody, food is served! The table should fit everyone!" Calls Pepper. Cheers echo from the group, and slowly, people filter in, sitting down and creating the first picture of what might be something like a family, shattered into pieces and put back together.

 **Alright, thanks for reading! For those of you who are spoiler sensitive, Tony gave a speech and them there was some Clint/Laura fluff and then everyone sat down for dinner. BTW, I have no update schedule, I try to update all my fics in a cycle. I am slow, and I do this for fun, and I have many commitments. So, You may not see more of this for a while, but maybe check out some of my other fics!**


	5. -Dinner Interlude-

**Sorry this took so long to update! I have recently published two new stories. This chapter we have dinner, and everyone is very curious about Maria and Sam's relationship. I'm trying to write better, so hopefully this chapter has fewer typos. Also, Peter and Aunt May will be in this chapter. Hopefully you've all seen homecoming!**

Dinner had been served, and everyone was chatting at last somewhat comfortably. The tension had mostly left the atmosphere, and the table's occupants were at ease. Natasha cocked her head as she sipped a glass of wine, looking at Maria.

"So, Hill, how long have you and Sam been going out?"

Maria tried not to visibly choke on her drink. "Oh, uh, a month or so."

Pepper smiled happily at the harmless conversation. "I'm glad you two are happy. Lord knows you need someone to keep you from working until midnight, Maria."

Sam laughed. "And she runs with me in the mornings, since my old partner left me in the dust. It's a mutually beneficial relationship." Steve feigned offense as everyone laughed.

Clint smirked at Sam as he took a swig of beer. "If you're running in the mornings, Sam, you're doing something wrong." This caused an even louder bout of laughter and earned him a smack on the arm from Laura. "What? I'm being honest!"

"As much as you only beat me to it by a second, Barton, there are small people here," reminded Tony.

"I'm fifteen, Mr. Stark!" Peter protested.

"Don't worry, Peter. I was talking about those three," Tony explains, waving his fork at the small Bartons. Lila and Cooper are playing Tic Tac Toe on a napkin, oblivious. Nathan is laughing cheerfully in his mother's lap.

Natasha yawned, trying to mask it with another sip of wine. Pepper notices, and changes the subject again. "Well, I know we've all had a long day. I'll show everyone their suites, if you're all ready?"

A loud chorus of cheers follows this statement, and everyone rises, ready for bed.

I'm sorry. This took way too long. I really hope this chapter is good! Hopefully I'll update it soon... but probably not as soon as I'd like.


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